AppleCare Employees Receiving OS X Mountain Lion Ahead of Launch

It's now the last full week of July, and that can only mean one thing: OS X Mountain Lion should be coming down the hill soon! For lucky AppleCare employees, it already is, in the form of a redemption code used to redeem in the Mac App Store.

9to5Mac is reporting that employees in Apple's AppleCare Operations division are now receiving OS X Mountain Lion, the company's latest operating system due for release any day now.

The website even has a screenshot as proof, which shows how the process works for AppleCare representatives.

"In coordination with AppleCare Operations, this email is provided to AHAs in advance of Mountain Lion's official release," the OS X Mountain Lion for AppleCare screenshot reads. "Copy the code below into the 'redeem' section of the Mac App Store on the Mac you wish to upgrade to Mountain Lion. Your download will begin immediately."

9to5Mac has confirmed that the build installed is 12A269, which matches the last developer preview pushed out on July 9.

The website also mentions that they've heard whispers of a July 24 overnight at Apple retail stores, during which time employees will be installing OS X Mountain Lion on display Macs and hanging signage related to the release.